


Building Our Castles In The Air

by captain_bucky_writesaswell



Series: Missing Scenes S03 [4]
Category: La Reina del Sur (TV), Queen of the South (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Late at Night, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Sleepiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 11:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17079275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captain_bucky_writesaswell/pseuds/captain_bucky_writesaswell
Summary: Cold floors, a book, and a request to bring them both peace.(Set somewhere around/after 3x07)





	Building Our Castles In The Air

**Author's Note:**

> idk where this came form...  
> enjoy :)

Her weariness was growing on her, but she seemed too tired to sleep. A walk around the house had the potential to tire her out somewhat. Like usual these days, she was struggling to rest. The last time that she had gotten any proper sleep was after she lay with him, on that wonderful night where they gave in to each other. Since then so much has happened; Guero’s death, her fall out with James, her business taking a small tumble at the hands of the redhead Pecas. So much has happened that her mind, as tired as it is, just won’t stop whirring.

So now it’s 3am on a chilly December night in Phoenix.

Teresa’s toes coil under her feet as she drags them barefooted across the cold wooden panels of the hallway floor, a corner of her blanket falling from her shoulders dusts the floor behind her. She moves slowly through the house, taking in its shadows and reflections in the moonlight.

Her visit to the kitchen seemed almost pointless. Her search for something, anything that might ease an appetite which she may or may not have, whatever she felt like she needed at 3am in the morning, she didn’t find in any cupboard.

A deep sigh escapes her breath as she finds herself in the entrance to the smaller seating area of the house, an area which would be an extra foot wider if it weren’t for the wall to wall bookcase embedded at the rear of the room. She expected it to be empty, or at least she did if she were standing here a year ago.

A year ago she didn’t know him as well as she does now. She always thought he was just a shell, a metal tin man who only cared about getting his own bricks in the walls of the house that is the cartel business. Oh how she should have seen better through his armour. Maybe she was choosing not to see it, but even then, he was so much more to her than what she claimed him to be.

Her fingertips run along the edge of one of the shelves of the bookcase, over a rustic wooden ornament and a small metal tin, before finally tracing the edges of the row of books on the next shelf over. She tilts her head to see their titles, and one in particular catches her eye.

She pulls back on the book’s spine and lowers it into her hands, opening the hardback to a random page. The faint glow from the lamp in the corner of the room provides just enough light for her to read a few lines as she scans the next few pages.

She reads aloud, quietly, softly to herself a line which has her attention - “I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air”.

The corner of her lips turn up into a small smile. The quote filling her with a gentle warmth that she was not expecting. In another life, it would have made her think of Guero, and the life which she was once fooled into wanting. But now that’s a distant memory, and there’s something far more precious and golden right in front of her that she neither needs nor wants out of lust, but the love she deserves.

“Teresa?"

She startles, closing the book rather abruptly to look up to James leaning in the doorway beside her. Her racing heart makes her fingers scratch along the back of the hardcovered book before it calms down.

James holds his hands up defensively for a split second, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you” - the secret smile card he holds close to his chest plays on his face. He’s wearing his usual night time attire, from what she’s seen of him before now as he’s wandered around late at night; a pair of dark grey sweat pants, a white t-shirt, with his feet pushed into a pair of black slippers. His hair is his biggest tell, it’s tidy... too tidy. He obviously hasn’t slept a wink either so far tonight.

“Can’t sleep?” He asks, voice low and gruff.

Teresa shakes her head subtly, lowering her eyes to the book in her hands before placing it back into its position on the shelf. “Not at all-” she sighs, “I see you can't either, how long have you been standing there?” She asks, almost afraid to know the answer. Even though he’s seen her, been with her... she still gets a little embarrassed knowing his eyes are on her when she’s unawares.

“Only a few seconds, you looked like you were in a different world.”

She pulls the blanket a little further around her shoulders, feeling the chill from the air outside radiating through the walls, windows and floorboards. “Maybe I was...” Her thoughts trail off to their night together, how it felt to have his hair gripped between her fingers, his strong arms around her waist - “well then..." he brings her focus back into reality and she looks up to meet his eyes. He lifts himself from the doorway onto his feet, “I’ll... erm... goodnight, Teresa” he says, turning away from her to retreat back to his room.

Teresa’s heart races again and her chin trembles as she finds the courage to bring him back to her - “James...” she stops him, following him into the hallway for a few steps. She takes a deep breath and prepares her words as he looks around to her. “I know we haven’t been on the best of terms since...but-" She stutters, he lets her continue. “I know you’ve not been sleeping either, and the truth is that I haven't slept well since... well, you know when. I know I'd feel safer if you were with me”. She’s anxious at her request, playing with a loose thread on the corner of her blanket. James’ eyes drop down slowly to the floor. “You can say no-“ she interjects, feeling the need to offer him some reassurance, “I’ll understand”.

After a few seconds of thinking her proposal through, James lifts his head tiredly up to her, relaxing his shoulders to release his tension. “Are you sure? It’s not too soon?”

Teresa nods her head gently, “I’m sure”.

James lets out a contented sigh and offers his hand out to her. Teresa steps forward and locks her palm into his and follows behind him to the junction where the hallways to their rooms meet. He begins to slow and head for her room, feeling that she’ll be more comfortable in her own bed, but Teresa decides otherwise, tugging him gently up the shallow steps towards his room.

James waits for Teresa to make the first moves, for her to climb into his bed and place her thin blanket over the top of his bed sheet for a little added warmth, for her to look to him as if it were to say _it’s okay_. He slides in next to her, careful not to get too close, until she rests the side of her head onto his shoulder.

James stretches backwards to turn out the light before bringing his attention back to her.

“Goodnight James” she says barely audibly, before burrowing herself deeper into his right side.

“g‘night, Teresa” he returns, with a pause in between his words that seems to last a lifetime just so that he can stay in this moment. He looks down at her and watches as the comfort and safety he provides slowly sends her off to sleep. His right hand comes up from beside her to brush a stray lock of hair away from her face, before his arm rests back on her pillow, while his fingers trace delicate circles and swirls along the skin of her neck. Contented, his breathing evens out, his eyelids begin to get heavier and heavier and soon, he too falls off into a peaceful sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> btw the quote is from the original "Dracula" novel by Bram Stoker


End file.
